Mystery of Madonna and child painting partially solved
Chemists have solved a 20-year mystery surrounding the date of a Madonna and Child painting, the "de Brecy Tondo," painted by an as-yet unidentified artist...
Howell Edwards, a specialist in Raman spectroscopy at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, used laser-based technology to detect yellow pigments and glue typical of the Renaissance period, which dates the painting between the 14th and 16th centuries...
During the past 24 years, 8 laboratories around the world have also scientifically examined the "Tondo" to try and determine when it was painted and by whom. In 2003, researchers in Belgium discovered that the painting appears to be the first in which an artist used a medieval blue dye called turnsole...
Several art historians have assumed that the similarities between the "Sistine Madonna" and the "Tondo" show that Raphael painted both artworks. Although the artist of the "Tondo" still cannot be verified, the scientific evidence described by Edwards and Benoy help place the painting within Raphael's reach.
Read entire article at Live Science
Howell Edwards, a specialist in Raman spectroscopy at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, used laser-based technology to detect yellow pigments and glue typical of the Renaissance period, which dates the painting between the 14th and 16th centuries...
During the past 24 years, 8 laboratories around the world have also scientifically examined the "Tondo" to try and determine when it was painted and by whom. In 2003, researchers in Belgium discovered that the painting appears to be the first in which an artist used a medieval blue dye called turnsole...
Several art historians have assumed that the similarities between the "Sistine Madonna" and the "Tondo" show that Raphael painted both artworks. Although the artist of the "Tondo" still cannot be verified, the scientific evidence described by Edwards and Benoy help place the painting within Raphael's reach.